ABSTRACT
Lack of basic skills has been seen as a key factor in disadvantage, high levels of unemployment and social exclusion. This linkage has been demonstrated across a number of Member States within the European Union (Basic Skills Agency, 1999) and also worldwide. The International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS), a 22-country international study of adult functional literacy conducted between 1994 and 1998 (OECD and Statistics Canada, 1995, 1997, 2000), showed that there was substantial variation in literacy and numeracy levels; Scandinavian countries showed small proportions of adults operating at the lowest levels (e.g. 7 per cent in Sweden) whilst a number of English speaking countries such as the UK, Australia, Canada and the US showed much higher proportions (over 20 per cent in some cases). Total illiteracy is rare within the UK, but one in sixteen adults if shown a poster advertising a concert being held at a specific place cannot identify where the concert is being held, and one in four adults cannot calculate the change they should get out of £2 when they buy three articles of value 45p, 45p and 68p.
